*
>> It's the 30 Minute
Music Hour.
I'm Andy Moore.
Tonight it's the
Carolina Chocolate Drops!
*
( beatboxing )
*
* Everybody talkin' 'bout
* Their sweetie nowadays
* I've got the one
* With the sweetest ways
* Your baby may
* Roll her jelly fine
* Nobody's baby can
* Roll it like mine
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* She bake her jelly roll
* All the time
* And when I'm feelin'
* Lonesome and blue
* My baby
* Know just what to do
* Yes sir
* She even call me honey
* She even let me
* Spend her money
* Never has a baby
* Put me outdoors
* She even buys me
* All of my clothes
* I don't want to brag
* Just want to put you in line
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* Oh no
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* Play it
*
* Oh, play that thing
Play it
*
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* She bake her jelly roll
* All the time
* And when I'm feelin'
* Lonesome and blue
* My baby
* Know just what to do
* Yes sir
* She even call me honey
* She even let me
* Spend her money
* Never has a baby
* Put me outdoors
* She even buys me
* Every piece of my clothes
* Now I don't want to brag
* Just want to put you in line
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* Oh no
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* Rattle them bones
*
Blow that jug
*
Where's your jug?
( beatboxing )
*
(laughs)
*
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* She bake her jelly roll
* All the time
* And when I'm feelin'
* Lonesome and blue
* Oh my baby
* Know just what to do
* Yes sir
* She even call me honey
* Honey, honey
* She even let me
* Spend her money
* Never has a baby
* Put me outdoors
* It's too cold
* She even buys me
* All of my clothes
* And his shoes
* I don't want to brag
* Just want to put you in line
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* Oh no
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
* Ah yeah
* Your baby
* Ain't sweet like mine
*
( applause )
>> Thank you folks.
Now this next one
we're going to do is one
that Hubby is going to sing.
It's called
"From Four 'Til Late."
>> It goes a little something
like this.
Where would I be without you?
>> The sweet sound of tuning.
*
* From four 'til late
* I was wringing my hands
* And cryin'
* From four 'til late
* I was wringing my hands
* And cryin'
* I believe in my soul
* That your man
* Is Gulfport bound
*
* Now from Memphis to Norfolk
* Is a 36-hour drive
*
* From Memphis to Norfolk
* Is a 36-hour drive
*
* Ain't a man
* Just like a prisoner
* And he ain't never satisfied
*
* Now, a woman's
* Just like a dresser
* Some man's always running
* Through its drawers
* That woman's
* Just like a dresser
* Some man's always running
* Right through its drawers
*
* Cause so many men
* To wear an apron overall
*
Go on, man.
*
( imitating trombone )
* I said
* From four 'til late
* She gets with a no good
* Bunch of clowns
*
* Yeah from four 'til late
* She'll get with a no good
* Bunch of clowns
* And she don't do nothing
* But tear a good man's
* Reputation down
*
* Now when I leave this town
* Gonna bid you fare--
* Farewell
*
* When I leave this town
* Gonna bid you fare--
* Farewell
*
* But when I come back again
* You'll have a great long
* Story to tell
*
( applause)
>> Well, we'll do this one
called "Hit 'Em Up Style."
It's just a good old-fashioned
revenge number.
Y'all ready?
>> Yeah.
>> Okay.
*
( beatboxing )
*
* Well, he was schemin'
* I was beamin'
* In his Beamer just beamin'
* I can't believe that
* I caught my man cheatin'
* So I found another way
* To make him pay for it all
* So I went to Neiman Marcus
* On a shoppin' spree-ah
* And on the way
* I grabbed Sole & Mia
* As cashbox rang
* I threw everything away
*
* Hey Ladies
* When you're man
* Wanna get buck wild
* Just go back
* And Hit 'Em Up Style
* Get your hands on his cash
* And spend it
* To the last dime
* For all the hard times
* When you go
* Then everything goes
* From the crib
* To the ride
* And the clothes
* So, you better let him know
* That if he mess up
* You gotta hit 'em up
*
* There goes the dreams
* We used to say
* There goes the times
* We went away
* There goes the love I had
* But you cheated on me
* And that's for that now
* There goes the house
* We made a home
* There goes
* You'll never leave me alone
* There go the lies
* You told
* This is what you owe
* Oh, oh, oh
*
* This is what you
* Owe-owe-owe
*
* While he was braggin'
* I was comin' down the hill
* Just draggin'
* All his pictures
* And his clothes
* In my bag, and
* Threw everything out
* Till there
* Was just nothing left
* And I paid all the bills
* About a month too late
* It's a shame
* We have to play these games
* The love we had
* Just fades away
* Fades away-ay-ay
* Hey Ladies
* When you're man
* Wanna get buck wild
* Just go back
* And hit 'em up style
* Get your hands on his cash
* And spend it
* To the last dime
* For all the hard times
* When you go
* Then everything goes
* From the crib
* To the ride
* And the clothes
* So, you better let him know
* That If he mess up
* You gotta hit 'em up
* Hey, Ladies
* What?
* When you're man
* Wanna get buck wild
* Come on
* Just go back
* And hit 'em up style
* Get your hands on his cash
* And spend it
* To the last dime
* For all the hard times
* When you go
* Then everything goes
* From the crib
* To the ride
* And the clothes
* So you better let him know
* That if he mess up
* You gotta hit 'em uh-uh-up
( applause)
>> Well that got the studio
rocking.
Great stuff.
That's a cut, Hit 'Em Up Style
from that beautiful package
right there.
That's a Grammy Award winning
record, Genuine Negro Jig.
This is the Carolina
Chocolate Drops, Adam,
Rhiannon, Dom, and Hubby.
Welcome.
Thanks for coming.
The music has such deep roots.
You're doing your own thing
with it Dom.
Give us the 30-second background
though on where the music came
from and how you found it.
Thirty, ready, go!
>> Oh man, all right.
( chuckles )
Well the old time fiddling
banjo tradition in America is
several hundred years old.
How we got into it, there was a
listserv called Black Banjo
Players Then and Now.
It's a listserv that's meant
to talk about and explore the
African and African American
roots of the banjo,
which at the time
really wasn't well known.
Rhiannon and I met at a thing
called the Black Banjo
Gathering, which happened in
Boone, North Carolina in 2005.
That's how we started the group
the Carolina Chocolate Drops.
We played with a fellow named
Joe Thompson, who is now
92 years-old, he's been playing
since he was a very little boy.
That was kind of the formation
of our group.
That's the how we started out
and then from there
we kind of expanded on.
These are our two new members,
Hubby Jenkins and Adam Matta.
>> And what additions they are
to the line up.
If you saw their program in
Madison just the night before,
we're on live on the web and
this was taped.
Never seen a theater respond,
and who would have thunk that
beatbox and a string band would
work?
There are a lot of people who
were dubious about that right?
Weren't there?
>> There are.
>> Why do you think it works
Adam?
The beat in this kind of music.
>> Well there's just the element
of the groove.
The groove matches really well
doing the beat.
There's also the fact that the
beatbox is an organic art form.
It's kind of like a folk music
in and of itself.
It can be traced back to ancient
art forms of vocal percussion.
Just the same way that the Drops
are upholding their tradition.
These roots do go way back and
it's just about using what you
got to created a sound, to
create music, and to get people
to dance.
>> It does give new meaning to
oral tradition.
>> Yeah exactly.
>> Who's idea was it to find
Adam or for you to find the
Chocolate Drops?
>> Well we met three years ago
on a project.
I have some friends from
New York who have a band based
in Brooklyn that play gypsy punk
klezmer tango music, all string
band stuff.
That band knew the Drops from
the folk circuit and they
brought me down to meet with
them, to meet the Drops three
years ago to collaborate on some
recordings and just have fun and
mixing the beats.
I met the Drops three years ago
and when Justin, the original
third member decided to leave
the band last year they gave me
a call.
>> Right.
And meanwhile Hubby comes into
the fold too with a mandolin,
adds it's own panache, it's own
little sparkle and shine,
and more bones.
How many bands have
more than one bones player?
( chuckles )
So no regrets?
>> No, no regrets at all.
I've been friends with Dom for a
long time and gotten to hang out
with them for a couple years
while they were doing their
thing and everything's been real
natural, everything's been
clicking.
No regrets at all.
>> Yeah it shows.
It seems like you guys have been
together in this line up a lot
longer than a few months.
I've got to ask about the
Grammy.
Rhiannon, what was it like?
Was that insane to win a Grammy?
>> Um, yeah.
I mean--
( chuckles )
Honestly, we were just happy
to be nominated.
The winning it
was pretty over the top.
We were just excited
to be there.
You know?
>> Right.
Was the event like super fancy,
and swag, and free gifts?
>> People ask us about the swag,
we didn't get any swag.
Not even after we won,
there was just too many people.
There's like 98 categories in
the daytime, but it was just,
you know, kind of exciting
just to be there.
Neither me nor Dom are really
into the cocktail party thing,
so there was a couple parties
we kind of showed up and went,
okay that's enough and we left.
It was cool to be there.
>> When we got there,
that was when we realized that
we were just in Traditional Folk
and that's why we're on
the commercials half, 'cause
we hit the red carpet, and...
>> Nobody was there.
>> All the news commentators
were there, but they didn't stop
us.
We just kept walking right in
there with no problem.
>> Only the Carolina Chocolate
Drops would celebrate winning
a traditional folk music Grammy
by hiring a beatbox.
So innovate and continue and
thank you so much for your
uplifting music.
Please if we could have a few
more, it'd be great.
>> Sure thing.
Well, this is one
that Adam wrote here.
You know he's had some hard
times, and I guess he's going
to have to tell you in song
about it.
>> That's right, beatboxing
is a difficult journey.
And this is a song--
It's a country waltz
about beatboxing
and about the trials--
( chuckles )
Trying to make it happen.
*
* I'm done with your letters
* I'm done with your jokes
*
* I'm done
* With your album covers
*
* I'm done with your hoax
* You had me believin'
*
* That you'd be my bride
* But it's gettin' harder
* And harder and harder
*
* To beatbox
* And smile at the same time
*
* We had a show
* At the town county hall
* I kept the tempo
* And Rivermen called
* But every time
* I looked down at the line
* You were entangled
* In arms that weren't mine
* And if it hadn't
* Been over and over again
* The same partner
* I'd probably be fine
* But it's getting harder
* And harder and harder
* To beatbox
* And smile at the same time
*
( beatboxing)
* You told me
* We were meant to be
* And all of a sudden
* I had to agree
* And I would
* Just keep beatboxing
* As long as I can
* As long as
* You were next to me
* Holdin' my hand
* And now
* I'd have to write you
* A thousand little words
* Or draw you a picture
* 'Cause you hadn't heard
* I'm done with your letters
* I'm done
* With your lies today
* I'm done
* With your album covers
* I'm givin' 'em all away
* And I'll keep telling myself
* I could stop on a dime
* But it's getting harder
* And harder and harder
* To beatbox
* And smile at the same time
* It's getting harder
* And harder and--
( beatboxing )
* To beatbox
* And smile at the same--
It's getting--
( beatboxing )
*
( imitating scrubbing,
and slowing way down )
* ...time
*
( applause )
It's real hard out here
for a beatboxer, you know.
( chuckles )
>> This next tune we'll do here,
this is one called
Po' Black Sheep.
This is a piece that a fellow
recorded of a duo named
Nathan Frazier
and Frank Patterson.
All right.
Here we go.
*
* Whoa, Lammy
* Po' black sheep
* Ain't got no mammy
*
* Sheep and the goat
* They went to the pasture
* Sheep said goat, you'd
* Better get a little faster
*
* I got a gal
* Lives in this town
* I know my gal fool around
* Oh, my gal
* She's pretty and fine
* Oh, I wish my gal was mine
*
Yep!
*
* Eight hands up
* Circle to the right
* Promenade all the way around
* Grab the gal
* You love the best
* Leave my gal alone
*
Yep!
*
* Yeah, Lammy
* Po' Black Sheep
* Ain't Got no Mammy
*
( applause )
>> Thank you so much folks.
Now this last tune we're going
to do for you, this is
a little spiritual number that
we learned from that fiddler
that I was mentioning earlier,
Joe Thompson.
This is one called,
"Lights in the Valley,"
so all you folks at home
you can sing along,
if you'd like, as well.
A little bit of this one,
"Lights in the valley."
It's also known as
"Do Lord Remember Me."
Lots of people have done it,
and hopefully it will keep on
for a long time.
*
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Way beyond the blue
*
* Singing in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Singing in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Singing in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Way beyond the blue
*
* I'm gonna see my mother
* Down in the valley
* Gonna see my mother
* Down in the valley
* I'm gonna see my mother
* Down in the valley
* Way beyond the blue
* I'm gonna meet my father
* Down in the valley
* I'm gonna meet my father
* Down in the valley
* I'm gonna meet my father
* Down in the valley
* Way beyond the blue
*
* I got a home in Beulah Land
* Outshine the sun
* I got a home in Beulah Land
* Outshine the sun
* I got a home in Beulah Land
* Outshine the sun
* Way beyond the blue
* Now, do Lord
* Oh, do Lord
* Lord remember me
* Do Lord
* Oh, do Lord
* Lord remember me
* Do Lord
* Oh, do Lord
* Lord remember me
* I Said
* Do Lord remember me
*
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Way Beyond the blue
>> One more time now!
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Lights in the valley
* Outshine the sun
* Way beyond the blue
>> Take it home boys!
*
( applause )